I have owned an Ameriware cookware set for a couple of years. I am concerned about comments of a generic teflon coating. I am also experiencing a lot of trouble with food sticking in the heavily used frying pans. Soaking and scraping with a plastic spatula in now required. The handles rust so I have removed the handle covers and use pot holders. I am considering returning the whole set to Costco as I also feel that I have been duped.

i am not sure what to think at all, i just purchased the complete pot set tonight at Coscto and my husband was very skeptical..wants me to do some research. good thing for this site, lots of good info to look over, good to be informed that is for sure. I am very curious as to what the coating is really made from, i have to admit, that was my main concern, that it was not teflon, but then again...is teflon dangerous if it is not flaking off? some say yes/no. So if anyone has more info on what the coating is made of, please post!

I read the above discussion with amazement. I did purchase one of the large saute pans over a year ago. I wish I had purchased more. The pan is absolutely incredible for cooking and cleaning. There is nothing that I have yet to find that sticks in the pan.

Today, as I was looking into the possibility of purchasing a larger saute pan with a lid from Ameriware, I found this website accidentily.

I have used the pan daily since the day I purchased it for over a year and it continues to provide the same wonderful results. I have never had to struggle cleaning this pan. EVERYTHING, even cheese, just slips out without any effort.

I'm wondering about the logic of the above poster that would prefer buying a new pan every few years and worrying about cleaning difficult to remove substances. This appears totally without logic to me.

I bought a big set of this Ameriware at a home show, begiled by the demo and promises that the coating was not TEFLON. The sales guy was slick, and he lied about several things, including telling me that the contact info. he gave me was his own (turned out to be the number for COOKS WAREHOUSE in Burbank).

As soon as I got the stuff home, I discoverd via internet research (much of it HERE) that the coating is PTFE, essentially generic TEFLON. Having read so many bad things about this coating, I immediately called to return it, and was given one heck of a time by MR. HOWARD TEICHMAN, who initially told me he would not refund my money, and then insisted on charging bogus "restocking fee".

In the end I did end up buying a large box (in which to combine the smaller cookware boxes) and packing materials, and paying for shipping, insurance and proof of delivery (over $30) just to get them to take the stuff back. Then it was almost TWO MONTHS and several follow-up calls after they received my (completely unused and in the original packaging) pots and pans, before they issued a refund to my credit card.

In my experience MR. TEICHMAN and the COOKS WAREHOUSE, INC. are NOT TO BE TRUSTED. The company has operated under a number of different names over the years, apparently as a ruse to avoid the many complaints that the Better Business Bureau has logged against them. Support companies that have integrity, not hucksters like these.

Yes, I bought a set of Ameriware pots and pans from a salesperson at Costco about a year ago. My problem is this, how do you cleanthe sides and bottoms of the outside of the cookware??? Mine have discolored horribly....I use a gas stove and my small saute pan that I use all the time is so dirty and no amount of scrubbing will clean the cooked on whatever. I know one of the stains interacted with the coating outside, I think it was egg and it totally took the coating off! I now have a 'stripe going down the side of my pan. HELP.....Otherwise, I like the ease of cleaning and cooking with my set. Any help will be appreciated....

I don't own any of these pans, but, I can say from experience, that a gas stove will burn stuff onto the sides of pans. Cookware that is stainless steel, glass or porcelain coated can be cleaned with scrubbing, but other surfaces may well have their outer surfaces damaged by forceful scrubbing needed to clean off stuff burned on by a gas stove. (DO NOT let anything boil over the sides of a copper pot or pan. It will NEVER look the same after cleaning.)

Well, Heather, as they say--the proof is in the pudding. I'm enjoying that pudding myself, and if a time comes when I fail to (as the posting above clarifies), I will return it to Costco for a full refund at any time (with or without the receipt).

But unfortunately, you will not be having any pudding, so to speak, because you don't have tbe pots to make it with.

1. They don't make their own products, they just combine others products (volrath and eclipse). This either means they are a front company unloading a bad product, a rebranding company selling other peoples products more effectivly, or a regular company just using others technology. Seeing how they have been around for decades, the prospect of a front company is eliminated. However, i would chalk them up as a rebrander, due to the bull they say.

2. The bull they say. They claim they're restraunt grade because they're durable (restraunts use cheap, replaceable pans, not durable ones). The no Teflon claim is misleading, because Teflon and the toxins in it aren't nessecarly the same. The trade shows and sometimes unreliable people there are another bit of bull. The name itself is the biggest tell, ameriware.

Personally, i don't like buying from resellers. It not only usually has some sort of scam behind it, it just feels dishonest to me.

Ok, so we've had our Ameriware pans for about two years and they've started to stick....really bad. The small 8" saute pan with eggs is now ridiculous. Does anyone know how to treat this problem? What I'm really concerned about is whatever *used* to prevent 'the stick,' has burned off and was ingested by my family.

Thoughts on treating the pans? A course of action? Should we return them completely?

Yes, I bought a set of Ameriware pots and pans from a salesperson at Costco about a year ago. My problem is this, how do you cleanthe sides and bottoms of the outside of the cookware??? Mine have discolored horribly....I use a gas stove and my small saute pan that I use all the time is so dirty and no amount of scrubbing will clean the cooked on whatever. I know one of the stains interacted with the coating outside, I think it was egg and it totally took the coating off! I now have a 'stripe going down the side of my pan. HELP.....

I had the same problem. I used Goo Gone. A little bit on a paper towel and some rubbing. Then wash thoroughly with plenty of soap and water.

I've owned an ameriware 12" nonstick fry pan for about a year and a half. We purchased it at costco for a very reasonable price (approx $50).

I do a lot of stir frying on high heat and have killed many expensive and not-so-expensive fry pans.

The ameriware pan has held up like a champ. It's by far the best pan i've used (including some expensive pans like a 12" nonstick all-clad). It still releases everything with minimal effort (including scrambled eggs, which are the biggest pain for me traditionally).

I'm currently in the process of trying to find some more ameriware pans to replace the other fry pans in my kitchen that are dying or just flat out dead at this point.

<product x> is fully warranted against defects in material and workmanship for ....

This warranty does NOT cover ... or other abuse, normal wear and tear ....

is very limited and may not do much for you. It is very subject to the interpretation of the company making the warranty. Some companies with a lot of integrity (or a healthy self-interest in keeping the customer happy for repeat business and referrals) are using that language so they can say no to a user who really abuses the warranty and will be extremely reasonable in what they cover, but if the company chooses not to operate that way they can get out of covering almost anything with such a warranty.

As an example, I bought a piece of luggage from a high-end luggage company with a much touted "lifetime warranty" against defects in workmanship and materials. I bought it when my previous suitcase had a catastrophic failure on the way to my rental car at the start of a 3-week international business trip and it was my 3rd suitcase in 3 years so I walked into a luggage store and asked what they had that would be more durable. I ponied up about 4 times the amount I had spent on a one-year suitcase. To give credit, it was more durable but after about 5 years it had accumulated enough annoying little issues that it was time to take advantage of the "lifetime warranty".

Off to the luggage store to buy the next size down (which I wanted anyway) and get a box to ship the suitcase in. Defects all listed on the company's warranty form. As these warranties usually require, I paid the shipping to send it. About a month later I get a letter from the company saying that the problems were all due to wear and tear or abuse and weren't covered. Oddly enough, the one item that they were willing to cover was the one that I would have agreed was just wear and tear - the wheel assembly was showing definite signs of wear but still worked fine. The store clerk had pointed out the wear and suggested I add it so as not to send the suitcase in again when the wheels fail.

I call up the company and here is how it goes:

Rep: The warranty is for defects in materials and workmanship. Defects in materials and workmanship normally show up in the first 6 to 9 months. You have had this suitcase for years so these problems are normal wear and tear or abuse.

Me: (incredulous) So when you said "lifetime warranty" you really meant 6 to 9 months? What is the point of a lifetime warranty if you aren't going to cover problems after 9 months.

Well, after more back and forth along those lines and asking to talk to a supervisor and being willing to talk at them until they got more agreeable, I got them to cover most of the stuff and paid for one item.

The moral of the story - if the warranty excludes "normal wear and tear" you can't count on it to cover anything beyond infant mortality. If it excludes "abuse" I guess they could even claim that an early failure is due to abuse.

post script: After a lot more years, the suitcase has again accumulated several problems - one of them a recurrence of one of the earlier problems and I'm trying to decide whether it is worth sending it in again - not looking forward to having to bully them into fixing it.

The Anolon Professional (I believe no longer available, but with the same surface as the "Advanced" line but with a different handle, Berdes Signocast were very good and similar in all respects, but did not clean as well or brown as well as Swiss Diamond. The Anolon Titanium browned better than the Anolon Professional and Berdes and is more durable than those two, but did not clean as easily. The Calphalon browned well but did not clean easily and was not durable. The Calphalon is also a thinner pan, and I'll say I liked that one the least.

I couldn't understand why Calphalon was consistently getting comments that it wasn't heavy enough when my Calphalon pans are quite heavy. I wouldn't want them any heavier. My 10" skillet is ~2.75 lb. Then I went to the Calphalon website and found that they no longer have the Professional line that I bought - only Calphalon One Infused Anodized - they don't say what it is infused with.

I guess I'll have to find something else if I need more pans. I hate non-stick since I'm not willing to baby it and I find anodized or stainless steel or well seasoned non-stainless steel easy enough to use and clean.

I believe "infused" anodized has to do with the aluminum substrate preparation, which may involve etching or other process that roughens the surface of the pan, making for a deeper "infusion" of the anodize into the parent metal of the pan which makes it more durable and longer lasting.